OCR Text |
Show HI I VfVv" " " "" ' ' miii i !..-! i I, i n 0fe OAKS SPY 1 The Mystery of a Silent Love 1 Chevalier WILLIAM II QUflJX o 1 U AUTHOR of'TtiraOirDDOOK," ETC- x4 1 LUSTRATIONS C-D-RHODCSSbI I W W W W Him' T SYNOPSIS. 1 I -11- Gordon O rcfiB, dining aboard with Horn-I Horn-I y. tlia yacht l-olu's owner, accidentally 1 U?.".a ,t0.rn Photograph of ii young girl. A. t Z!mt n K,lt t,ltJ oii8Ul'8 safe 1b robbed. J Tlin poller find thnt Hornby In u frnud JJJ "i the Uila'n nnnip n false one, In i,M Iimlon Ort-KK In trupped nearly to his ' , jlcath by u former servnnt, Ollnto. Vlalt-M Vlalt-M V'.. In ,)"frif,8 Gregg meets Muriel JW Irfsltlicourt. Hornby nppearu nnd Muriel I introdiiefH him as Mnrtln WoodrotTe. hnr father's frlond Gregg seos a copy of the Ii " Photograph on the Lola nnd llnds 1 5.at ,,h!i I'K'HiK K'rt la Muriel's friend f voourolTc disuppenrti. Gregg discover ."J the boil of a murdered woman In Uan-i Uan-i J'ocii wood The bodv disappears and In J V.8 !'nco '" found tho body of Ollnto. T Muriel ainl Gregg search Uannoeh wood f.l J?.F,,,,,.Pr ,ir" fli'l tho body of Annlda, Jl Ollnto m ulfe When the pollen go to tho i wood the body has disappeared In I.on-l I.on-l . V, Gregg meets Ollnto, alive nnd well. (i regg traces tho young girl of tho torn ,i liholoKrnph and llnds thnt she Is Elma i , Jleath, nlei'o of Dnron Oberg, who has i takmi ),vi to Abo. Finland, nnd thnt she ' ? holds u secret iiffectlnK WoodrofTe. On I 5 V", return to Hnnnoeh Gregg llnds the i . Ilthcouris lied from Hylton Clint er, who i 1 ,lftd called there. He goes to Abo, and ( fter n tilt with the pollen chief Is eon-si eon-si flucted to Kujnnn, whore- ho llnds Elma, i imprisoned A surgical operation has mnde 1 r deaf and dumb. Ho nscupeH with her. F CHAPTER XI Continued. m, l"'10 unfortunnte gtrl whom I was ft, ' there to rescue drow back In fright & agalimt the wall for a singlo second, : f -then, fleeing that I had closed with tho Vj , hulking fellow, Bho sprang forward, n i and with both hands seized the gun & -and attempted to wrest It from him. 21 His fingers had lost the trigger, and ho X; -was trying to regain It to flro and bo u ralso tho alarm. I saw this, and with jj an old 'trick learned nt Uppingham I H tripped him, so that ho staggered and II nearly fell. US , An oath escaped him, ynt In that mo- Ifl ment Elma succccdod In twisting tho lj. fiun from his sinewy hands, which I l now held with a strength begotten of a ll "knowledge of my imminent peril. Ho sJL, -was huge and powerful, with a KJT .strength far exceeding my own, yet I I had been reckoned a good wrestler at I Uppingham, and now my knowlcdgo of I, ' that most ancient form of combat held j7 mo In good stead. Ho shouted for help, r Ills deep, hoarse volco sounding along r' I tho stone corridors. fiJ As we wero struggling desperately, ,.T tho English girl slipped past us with gl tho carblno in her hand, und with a IL ' quick movement dragged open the ' I'f lieavy door that gave exit to tho lake. I I heard a splash, and saw that Elma no ft. longer held tho sentry's weapon in K fc. lior hands. Then at tho same moment I J heard a volco outside cry in a low tono: "Courage, excellency! Courage! J I will como and helj. yoi k' " It was tho faithful Finn, who had 1 , been awaiting me in tho deep shado)V, , and with a few strokes pulled his hor up to tho narrow rickety ledec "uJr'Me M, tho door. "Take the lady!" 1 succucded In G gasping in. Russian. Nover mind B mo," and I saw to my satisfaction that W lie guided Elma to stop Into the bont, f' -which at that moment drifted past tho H W little platform. n I struggled vnliantly, but 1 was slow- f ,1 ly being vanquished. Mine was a light k ii for life. A sudden idea Hashed ucross IL my mind, and 1 continued to struggle, Kjtj at tho same tlmo gradually forcing my W I -ouemy backwurd towards tho door. Ho Wt'' cursed and sworo and shouted until, R- with a sudden and almost superhuman W effort, I tripped him, bringing his head mm ', into violent contact with tho stone mi lintel of tho door. mt) There wiib tho sound of tho crash- ft lug of wood as the rotten platform Hi ave'way, a loud splash, and ho sank H' like a stone, for although I stood IV watching for him to rise, I could ouly Hr distinguish the woodwork floating WM away with the current. Hf. As I stood thoro in horror at my jH deed of self-defense, tho placo sudden- H ly resounded with shouts of alarm, and jBf in the tower above mo the great old H' rusty bell began to swing, ringing its HL brazen noto across tho broad oxpanso j of waters, llchind mo in tho passage 3 HI 1 saw a light and tho glitter of arms. A shot rang out, and a bullet whizzed past inc. Then I jumped, and nearly T upset tho boat, but taking an oar I be- mg gan to row for life, nnd as wo drew If away from those- grim, black walls the H dro botched forth from three rifles. Hi Again tho guards 11 red upon us, but Hi! in the darkness their aim was faulty. jP lights appeared In the high windows B vKno CUHlle' u,ul wo coul(1 Beo tllat B iff greatest commotion had been V caused by tho escapo of the prisoner. HJ Tho men nt tho door In tho towor wcro H fhoutlng to the patrol boats, calling JH ihom to row us down and cupturo us, H but by plying our oars rapidly wo shot H etralght ucross tho lako until we got Iff under tho deep shadows of the opposite oppo-site shore. Out in the contor of the lake wo could just distinguish a long bout with threo rowers going Bwlftly towards tho entrance to tho river, which wo so desired to gain. Tho guards wero rowing rapidly, the oars sounding in the rowlocks, evidently evi-dently in the bolle thnt we had mado for the river. Hut the Flnlander had apparently foreseen this, nnd for that roiiBon we wcro lying Bafo from observation obser-vation In tho deep shadow of an overhanging over-hanging tree. A gray mist was slowly rising from tho water, and tho Finn, noticing it, hoped that it might favor us. "if wo dlsomburk we shall be compelled com-pelled to tnnko a detour of fully four days In tho forest, in order to pass the marshes," he pointed out in a low whisper, "Hut if we can enter the river we can go ashore an where and get by foot to Bomo place where tho lady can He in hiding." "What do you advise? We are entirely en-tirely in your hnnds. Tho chief of po lieu told me he could trust you." "I think it will bo best to risk It," he said in Russian after n brief pause. "We will tie up the boat, and 1 will go along the bunk and Beo what the guards are doing. You will remain here, and I shall not be seen. Tho rushes und undergrowth are higher further along. Hut If there is danger while I am absent get out nnd gp straight westward .until you Hud tho marsh, then keep along Its banks due south," and drawing up the boat to tho bank tho shrewd, big-boned fellow disappeared dis-appeared Into the dark undergrowth. CHAPTER XII. Rescued and Lost. There were no slgtiB yet of the break of day. My ears were strained to catch the dipping of nn oar or a voice, but beyond the lapping of tho water beneath the boat there was no other sound I took the hand of the fair- With a Sudden and Almost Superhuman Su-perhuman Effort I Tripped Him. faced girl at ray side and pressed It, In return she pressed mine. It was the only means by which wo could exchange ex-change confidences. She whom I had sought through all those months sat nt my side, yet powerless to utter ono single word. Suddenly I heard a stealthy foot-stop foot-stop approaching, and next moment a low volco spoko which I recognized as that of our frlond, tho Finn. "There is danger, excellency a grave danger!" ho said in a low half whisper. "Three boats are In search of us." And scarcely had ho uttered tboso words when there was a flash of a rifle from tho hazo, a loud report, and a bullet whizzed paBt just behind my head. "Quick, excellency!- Fly! while thero Is yet time!" gasped tho Finn, grasping my hand and half dragging mo from tho boat, while 1, In turn, placed Elma upon tho bank. The throe of us, beedlesB of tho consequences, con-sequences, plungod forward Into tho impenetrable darkness, just as our ficrco pursuers camo alongside where wo had only a moment ago boeu seated. seat-ed. They shouted wildly as thoy sprang to land after us, but our guide, who had been born and bred In these for-cBts, for-cBts, know well how to travel in a circle, and how to concent himself. It wns a ruco for freedom nny, for very life. So dark thnt we could seo before us hardly a foot, wo woro compelled to place our hands In front of us to avoid collision with tho big tree trunkB, whllo ever and anon we found ourselves our-selves entangled In tho mnss of dead creepers and vesntnliln nnrnsltes thnt vi vvviu ttlll " VfilimUIV i W t formed tho dense undergrowth. Around us on every side wo henrd tho shouts and curses of our pursuers, whllo ubovo tho rest wo heard nn authoritative authorita-tive volco, evidently thnt of a sorgcant of the guard, cry: "Shoot tho man, but spuro the worn-nn! worn-nn! Tho colonel wants her back. Don't lot her escapo! Wo shall bo well rewarded. re-warded. So keop on, comrades! Meno odummnski!" nut tho trembling girl beside mo heard nothing, nnd perhaps Indeed it was best that sho could not hear. It wns an exciting chase In tho darkness, dark-ness, as wo gradually circled round our prisoners, for wo know not into what treacherous marsh wo might fall. Onco v,o saw afar through tho trees the light of a lantern held by a guard, and already tho sweet-faced girl beside be-side me seemed tired and terribly fatigued. fa-tigued. At last, breathless, wo halted to listen. Wo wcro already In sight of the gray mist where lny tho silent lake that held so many secrets. Thero wns not a sound. Wo crept along tho water's wa-ter's edge, until In the gray light wo could distinguish two empty bootB that of tho guards and our own. Wo wero again at tho spot where we had disembarked. "Let ub row to tho head of tho lako," suggested the Fipn. "Wo may then land nnd escapo them," And a moment mo-ment later we were nil threo In the guards' boat, rowing with all our might under tho deep shndow of tho bank northward, In tho opposite direction direc-tion to the town of Nystad. I think wo must have rowed several miles, for ore we landed again, upon a low, flat and barren shore, tho first gray streak of day was showing In tho east. Elma noticed it, and kept her great brown eyes fixed upon It thoughtfully. It was the dawn for her tho dawn of a now lifo. Our eyeB mot; sho smiled at me, and then gazed again eastward, with silent' meaning. Having landed, wo drew tho boat up and concealed it In tho undergrowth so thnt the guardB, on searching, should not know the direction wo had taken, and then wo went straight on northward across tho low-lying lands, to where tho forest showed dark against tho morning gray. Tho mist had now somewhat cleared, but to discover dis-cover a path In a forest forty miles wido Is a matter of considerable difficulty, diffi-culty, and for hours wo wandered on and on, but alas! always In vain. Faint and hungry, yet wo still kept courage. Fortunately wo found, a little spring, and all threo of us drank eagerly ea-gerly with our hands. Hut of food wo had nothing, savo a Btnall piece of hard ryo bread which the Finn had In his pocket, tho remains of his evening meal, and this wo gave to Elmo, who, half famished, ate it quickly. How many mllos wo trudged I have no Idea. Elma's torn shoo gave her considerable trouble, and noticing her limping, I induced her to sit down whllo I took It off, hoping to be nblo to mend it, but, having unlaced It, I saw thnt upon her Btocking was a largo patch of congealed blood, whore her foot Itself had also been cut. I managed to beat the nails of the shoo with a stone, so that Its sole should not bo lost, nnd sho readjusted It, allowing mo to laco it up for her and smiling tho while. Forward wo trudged, ever forward, across that enormous forest where the myriad treo trunks presented tho samo dismal scono everywhere, a forest untrodden un-trodden savo by wild, half-savago lumbermen. lum-bermen. My only oar was that wo should be compelled to spond another night without shelter, and what Its effect might bo upon the delicately reared girl whoso hand I held tenderly In mine. Surely my position was a strange ono. Her terrible affliction seemed to causo her to be entirely dependent upon mo. Suddenly, Just as the yellow sunlight sun-light overhead had begun to fado, tho flat-faced Finn, whoso name he had told mo was Follx Estlandor, crlod Joyfully: "Polushalto! Look, excellency! Ah! The road at last!" And as wo .glanced boforo us wo saw that his quick, well-trained eyes had detected away In tho twilight, at somo distance, a path traversing our vista among the tree trunks. Elma made a gesture of renowed hope, nnd all three of us redoubled our pace, expecting every moment to como upon some log hut, tho owner of which would surely glvo us hospitality for tho night. Hut darkness came on quickly, and yet we still pushed forward. for-ward. Poor Elma was limping, and I knew that her Injured foot was pain' lng her, oven though sho could tell mo nothing. At last wo saw before us a light shining In a window, nnd flvo minutes lntor Felix wns knocking at the door, and asking In Finnish tho occupant to glvo hospitality to a lady loot In tho forest. We henrd a low growl like a muttered mut-tered Imprecation within, and when the door oponod there stood upon the threshold n tall, bearded, muBcu-i muBcu-i lnr old fellow in a dirty red shirt, with a big revolver shining in his hand. A Tall, Bearded, Muscular Old Fellow, With a Dig Revolver. A quick glance at us satisfied him thnt wo wero not thieves, and ho Invited us In whllo Felix explained that wo had landed from the lako, and our boat having drifted away wo had been compelled com-pelled to tako to tho woods. Tho man heard tho Finn's picturesque story, and then said something to mo which Felix translated Into Russian. "Your excellency Is wolcomo to all the poor faro he has. Ho gives up his bed In the room yonder to the lndy, so that she may rest. Ho Is honored by your oxcollency'a presence." pres-ence." And while he was making this explanation ex-planation the wood cuttor stirred tho red embers whereon a big pot waB Blmmerlng, and sending forth an appetizing ap-petizing odor, and in live minutes wo were nil three sitting down to a stow of cnpcrcallzlo, with a foaming light beer ns a fitting beverage. Aftor wo had finished our meal I asked tho sturdy old fellow for a pencil, pen-cil, but tho nearest thing ho possessed was a stick of thick charcoal, and with that it was surely difficult to communicate commu-nicate with our fair companion. Therefore There-fore sho rose, gave mo her hand, bowed smilingly, and then passed into tho Inner room und closed tho door, whllo wo throw ourselves wearily upon the woodon benches and slept soundly Suddenly, however, at early dawn, wo wero startled by a loud banging at the door, the clattorlng of ho6fs, and authoritative shouts In Russian. The old wood cuttor sprang up, and, look-lng'through look-lng'through n chink In tho heavy shutters, shut-ters, turned to ub with blanched face, whispering breathlessly: "Tho pollen! What can thoy want of me?" "Opon!" shouted tho horseman out-side. out-side. "Open in 'the name of his majesty!" maj-esty!" Felix made a dash for tho door of tho inner room, whoro Elma had retired, re-tired, but next second ho reappeared, gasping In Russian: "Excellency! Why. tho door is open' the lady has gono" "done!" I cried, dismayed, rushing Into tho llttlo room, where I found the truckle couch empty nnd tho door leading lead-ing outside wide open. Sho had actually actu-ally disappeared! The police again battered at tho opposite op-posite door, threatening loudly to break it in If it woro not opened nt onco, whereupon tho old wood cutter drew tho bolt and admitted them. Two big, hulking fellows In heavy riding coats and swords strodo In, whllo two others remained mounted outside, holding hold-ing tho horsos "Your names?" demanded ono of the fellows, glancing at us as we stood together In expectation. Our host told them his name, and asked why thoy wished to enter, "Wo are searching for a woman who has escaped from Kajana," was tho roply. "Havo you seen any woman hero?" "No," responded tho wood cuttor "Wo never seo any woman out In theso woods." "Who is your chief?" I Inquired, as u suddon thought occurred to ma "Molnlkoff, at Holslngfors " "Then this la not In the district of Abo!" "No. Hut what difference docs it make? Who are you?" "Gordon Gregg, British subject," 1 replied. "And you nro tho drosky driver from Abo," remarked tho follow, turning turn-ing to Follx. "Exnctly as I thought You are tho pair; who bribed tho nun at Knjnnn, nnd succeeded In rolenslng tho Englishwoman. In the name of tho czar, I r.rrost you I" The old wood cutter turned palo an death. Wo certainly were In gravo peril, for I forenaw tho dangor of fall- illir Intn thn bonds nf liaroll ObOTK. ttlO Strangler of Finland. Yet wo hnd a sntlBfactfon In knowing that, bo tho mystery what It might, Elma had escaped. "And on what charge, pray, do you presume to arrest me7" I Inquired as coolly as I could. "For aiding a prisoner to escapo." "Then I wish to say, flrst, that you havo no power to arrest mo; and, secondly, sec-ondly, that If you wish mo to glvo you satisfaction, I am porfoctly willing wil-ling to do bo, providing you first nc-company nc-company mo down to Abo." "It la outside my district," growled tho follow, but I saw that his hesitancy was duo to his uncertainty nB to who I really might be. "I doslro you to tnko mo to tho Chief of Pollco Boranskl, who will mnko nil tho explanation necessary. Until wo have an Intorvlow with him, I rofUBo to glvo any Information concerning con-cerning myself," I snld. "Hut you havo a passport?" I drow It from my pocket, saying: "It proves, I think that my name la what 1 havo told you." Tho follow, standing nstrlde, read It, and hnnded It back to mo. "Whoro is tho woman?" ho demanded. demand-ed. "Toll mo." "I don't know," waB tho reply. "Perhaps you will toll mo," ho said, turning to tho old wood cuttor with a sinister expression upon his faco. "Ro- membor, theso fugitives are found In your houso, nnd you are liable to arrest." "I don't know Indeed I don't!" protested pro-tested tho old follow, tromollng bo-ncath bo-ncath tho officer's threat. Llko all his class, ho feared tho police, and held them In dread. "Ah, you don't romembor, I suppose!" sup-pose!" ho smiled. "Woll, perhaps your memory will bo refreshed by a mouth or two In prison. You nro also arroBtcd." "Hut, your excellency, I" "Enough I" blared tho brlBtly officer. "You havo given sholtor to conspirators. conspira-tors. You know tho pcnnlty in Fin land for thnt, surely?" "Hut theso gentlemen are surely not conspirators!" tho poor old man protested. pro-tested. "His oxcelloncy Is English, and tho English do not plot." "Wo shall boo afterwards," he laughed. A dozen times wns tho old wood cutter cut-ter questioned, but ho stubbornly refused re-fused to admit that ho had over set oyes upon Elma. I know, of course, by what wo had overheard said by tho prison guards, that tho governor general gen-eral was extremely anxloUB to recapture recap-ture the girl with whom, I frankly admit, ad-mit, I had now so utterly fallen In lore. And it nppeared that no effort wns being spared to search for ub. But what could bo tho truth of Elma's disappearance? dis-appearance? Had Bho fled of hor own accord, or had sho onco more fallen a victim to somo ingenious and dastardly das-tardly plot That gray dress of hora might, I recollected, botray her It she dared to venture near any town, whllo her affliction would, of Itself, bo plain evldenco of identification. All I hoped was that she hud gone und hidden horsolf In, tho forest somewhere in tho vlclnltv to wait until tho dancer of recapture had passed. For as long as possible I succeeded In delaying our doparturo, but at length, Just ns tho yellow sun began to struggle through tho gray clouds, we woro all threo compelled to depart In sorrowful procession. At nlno o'clock I stood In tho big, bare olllco ot Michael Boranskl, where only a short tlmo before wo had had such a heated argument. As soon a the chief of police had entered, ho recognized mo undor arrest, and dismissed dis-missed my guards with a wave of tho hand all savo tho officer who had brought me there. Ho listened to tho officer's story ot my arrest without saying a word. (TO DE CONTINUED.) |